Put your clothes on, a motherly Sinead O'Connor advises Miley Cyrus

By CNN Staff

Updated 1843 GMT (0243 HKT) October 3, 2013

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Photos:Photos: Evolution of Miley Cyrus

Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Miley Cyrus became a household name for families when her Disney Channel television show, "Hannah Montana," premiered in 2006. From there, Cyrus quickly rose to pop star fame and has been changing her appearance ever since.

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Evolution of Miley Cyrus – The future pop star with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, in October 1994 in Memphis, Tennessee.

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Evolution of Miley Cyrus – The father and daughter team make a New York appearance for the Disney Channel in February 2006.

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Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus performs during the Radio Disney Totally 10 Birthday Concert in July 2006 in Anaheim, California.

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Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus chats with VJ Susie Castillo during an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live in February 2007 at MTV Studios in New York City.

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Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus starred with Emily Osmand in an episode of "Hannah Montana" in June 2007.

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Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus appears at the 2007 American Music Awards in Los Angeles.

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Evolution of Miley Cyrus – The actress arrives at the Teen Vogue Young Hollywood Party at Vibiana in September 2007 in Los Angeles.

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Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus arrives at a film premiere in Hollywood in January 2008.

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Evolution of Miley Cyrus – Cyrus performs for ABC's "Good Morning America" at New York's Bryant Park in July 2008.

"Nothing but harm will come in the long run, from allowing yourself to be exploited, and it is absolutely NOT in ANY way an empowerment of yourself or any other young women, for you to send across the message that you are to be valued (even by you) more for your sexual appeal than your obvious talent," the 46-year-old singer says in the letter posted on her official website.

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Cyrus, 20, was the subject of widespread scorn in August, when she danced provocatively in a skimpy outfit during MTV's Video Music Awards show. Soon after, she released the video for her latest single, in which she rides a wrecking ball while nude and suggestively licks a sledgehammer.

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"I am extremely concerned for you that those around you have led you to believe, or encouraged you in your own belief, that it is in any way 'cool' to be naked and licking sledgehammers in your videos," O'Connor wrote. "It is in fact the case that you will obscure your talent by allowing yourself to be pimped, whether it's the music business or yourself doing the pimping."

In a Rolling Stone article, Cyrus compared her look in the "Wrecking Ball" video to O'Connor's style in her iconic 1990 video for "Nothing Compares 2 U." But O'Connor said she chose the shaved-head look in direct defiance of music industry executives who wanted her to present a sexier appearance.

While Cyrus hasn't directly commented on the letter, she appeared to respond Thursday with a pair of tweets. One made apparent references to O'Connor's previous struggles with mental illness, and the other showed a picture of O'Connor tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II in 1992.

O'Connor was in the news in 2011, when her online efforts to find a "sweet sex-starved man" went viral.